Personal Narrative: Living Out Of Poverty

As a child, I never realized the obstacles my family went through and why they wanted me to be the best student at the school. My parents tried their best in sheltering me from the truth but I always knew we were struggling financially. Growing up, I witnessed my parents struggle to find jobs and a stable house

When I graduated high school I had no idea what I wanted to do, all I knew is I was done with public school and could live my life as what I thought an adult was. My father and most of my family believed it was important for me to go to college, and get a kick start with my life. Though they weren’t wrong, I had no idea what I wanted to do and no discipline to do my studies to the full extent of my abilities.

I grew up in poverty with a small family, which consisted of my mother, sister, two step brothers, and my father who has a no contact order with my sister and me. Many of my peers often complain about how much they hate school and would rather be at home. But for me school was my escape from another world. A world I have no choice but to withstand. A world where shootings are common, where drugs are everywhere, where police patrol every Tuesday and Thursday; the darker side of Seattle. With both my parents being immigrants coming from war-torn countries we had no choice where to live, to eat, and to learn. As a family, we had no help from anyone so we had to keep our head up and persevere.

A fire rose within to burn social economic barriers that imprisoned me from achieving an education. As a member of a low-income household, I continually witnessed my parents struggling to pay for utilities, rent, and groceries. Although we received government assistance, it never seemed to be enough. My father worked long hours at a dairy factory to provide for our family, but his addiction to alcohol took most of his income. My mother depended on government assistance due to her chronic asthma and arthritis. Not being able to rely on my parents for stability, my six older siblings were forced to drop out of high school to become providers of their own.

Education is the main goal of college. I had always considered myself a person dedicated to the pursuit of more knowledge and a better education. My mother, being a teacher, had instilled these values in me. When I was in elementary, I tested into a gifted center and from there I tested into selective enrollment college prep. The obvious next step seemed to be college. Looking the scholarship given to me, it just didn’t seem to add up. I had scored a 32 on the ACT but my scholarship was barely covering half of my expenses. But I knew if a just gave up, the meant giving up on everything that I believe in. By pursing college I was able to be challenged, pursue subjects which interested me and discover new pathways that I was interested such as African American studies. Without taking that chance, I may have never received that knowledge.

Ever since I can remember I have always been passionate about helping other people, which then sparked my desire to continue my education. As I began to grow older I witnessed my four brothers drop out of high school, and that lead to the expectation

From the time I was born until the age of twelve, my family struggled with the basic necessities of life. My father worked endless hours in a factory, and yet somehow came home with a smile on his face. As a young kid, I never knew we were struggling. The thought had never occurred to me. As I got older I started to realize that my single father was working his life away to care and provide for his two little girls. He completely put aside his well-being because as long as his girls were cared for, nothing else mattered. Life was never easy, but as a young adult today, I have come to accept that my background has been a prerequisite for greatness, for it is our backgrounds that define who we are. The way we are raised, the way we are taught to believe, and the way we are taught to act, make us who we are today.

It is extremely important for everyone to give back to their communities and I hope I can inspire others to continue their own dreams of being successful. When I become a family physician, I will be able to help many different people and advise them on how to live a healthy life. As one of Jordan’s valedictorians this year, I know how important school is and have always worked diligently to get to where I am today. I am determined and will always continue to push myself to achieve my goals. I never give up and am able to learn from my failures in order to grow and succeed. I have always loved helping others and know that I will continue striving to provide the best care possible wherever I work. I will continue working tirelessly when I am at CSU Long Beach because I know college will be more challenging than high school, but I will not let that stop me from being successful. I am going to try my best to graduate with honors because I know I have the potential in me to accomplish that goal. Family is extremely important to me and I do hope to someday get married and have a family of my own, but I know that can wait until after I accomplish my career

In my early childhood years I grew up very poor; eating mostly beans, cornbread, and ramen. I grew up seeing how a lower education can affect your life and your children, that why from a young age I knew I wanted a stable future where I knew my children would be able to have a happy life. And with that goal I knew I would either have to get a higher education, somehow land a well paying job early on, or serve in the military. With the beginning of high school I lost sight of my goal not really thinking

I am passionate about medicine, I hope to use this to help heal others. I want to help all people have access to healthcare, and I want towards curing cancer. In addition, I want to help people around me any way I can. My life has impacted by the small and large acts of kindness and compassion from others. When my dad was in Iraq, our school and parish community assisted my family with prayers, meals, and unwavering support.

It never really hit me until arguments over finances would echo through the house as I tried to study, or nights, where I would come home and there was no food to be put on the table especially with my mom working double shifts night after night. I felt guilty for even asking for a penny if it wasn't going towards our survival. As a result, it caused me to give up many things and miss out on opportunities. But through everything, I never complained because I knew there was always someone out there going through far worse than I was. Therefore, I decided that I was not going to shape my life around temporary situations and would create a new way of looking at my circumstances. I was bound to not let go of my vision of going to college and graduating. I was bound to persevere through my obstacles. After battling being in tough socioeconomic status, I learned that being poor doesn't define who I am or what I could be. I learned that being "poor" is simply a state of mind. I'm not poor. I may be in a low-income socioeconomic status, but I'm not poor. In fact, I had something that couldn't be limited by dollar signs...my mind. I made it my goal to leave all my hopes and wildest dreams in this world, and to leave no opportunity

I didn’t grow up poor, we had nice clothes, a nice home, good schools and plenty of food and we went on vacations every summer. Me and my 8 siblings had a great childhood. It’s one thing to read about poverty and it’s another thing to sit in the dark with an empty refrigerator, hungry and wondering how to get yourself out of poverty.

As a young child, I learned that education would be beneficial to not only myself but also all humankind. Growing up in a Northeast Florida housing project my father and mother did the best they could to raise nine children. My father worked seven days a week in the service industry as a waiter and bartender while my mother worked as a domestic employee in the homes of more affluent people in the south. My father had an eleventh grade education and my mother had not passed the tenth grade before she bore her first child. Neither parent completed high school but they had dreams of their children far exceeding their educational accomplishments. I was child eight of the nine and I knew early on that I did not want to live

I grew up in a single-parent, low-income home outside of Santa Rosa, California. The idea of college wasn’t introduced to me until long after I had already become just another statistic. I dropped out of high school when I was 17, in the midst of a teenage rebellion, thinking I already knew everything and didn’t need anyone’s help. I left home, got a job at a fast food restaurant, and stayed with friends off and on until I realized that maybe I didn’t know everything quite yet. After a severe reality check, I found a sense of responsibility that encouraged me to get my G.E.D and find a great job. I was very determined to take everything I learned as a child and use it as a what-not-to-do guide. By the time I was 19, I bought my first house and quickly realized I could either set limitations with excuses or achieve goals with endurance. The

Simulation process was a great way to understand daily challenges of many people in the United States of America. Experiencing the challenges that people are going through in daily life is a helpful way to understand their reasons for making decisions and it also is helpful to understand their feelings regarding the challenges.